The French law of July 22, 1983, made the Departments of France responsible for developing a Departmental Walking and Hiking, Mountain-Biking and Bridle-Way Route Plan.
The perfect tool for creating the necessary favourable conditions for the public to explore areas of nature and contribute to installing coherent and high quality way-marking throughout the department.

Providing the Haute-Savoie department with a structured, high-quality network of routes and trails

The Council has made developing trekking an essential branch of its policy regarding improving public access to areas of unspoilt nature. Its purpose is to promote the activity and make it accessible to as many members of the public as possible, whilst at the same time making the best possible use of the department’s wealth of natural and cultural heritage.

So far, 2,800 kilometres of trekking trails out of the 3,200 included in the PDIPR have been way-marked.

So far, 2,800 kilometres of trekking paths have been way-marked

2,800 kilometres of trekking paths have been way-marked

Registering and way-marking the routes

The PDIPR has enabled a continuous network of routes to be way-marked across the department.

These include :

structural routes : national and regional trails (GR and GR de Pays)

trekking and walking circuits that enable users to discover examples of Haute-Savoie heritage.

The routes are way-marked in accordance with a departmental way-mark charter that ensures high quality, homogeneous signage throughout the area. This means that users can find their way around easily.

Implementation of the PDIPR: a partnership-based approach

The PDIPR is being implemented in close collaboration with groups of communes and individual communes, professionals in the tourism sector (Departmental Tourism Agency etc.) and associations such as the Departmental Trekking Committee.

The walking and mountain-biking sections of the plan are being dealt with by the Council and the local authorities, who select the routes to be included. The Council is also responsible for designing and producing the signage for the routes included in the PDIPR register.

For the equestrian element, the Department acts as contracting authority: it suggests possible routes to communes, in consultation with the Departmental Ponytrekking Federation.

How the PDIPR is funded

Every year the department allocates an average of €275,000 to its trekking policy. One kilometre of way-marked route currently costs the department €750, local authorities slightly less. This budget is funded by the TDENS (Departmental Tax on Endangered Areas of Nature) that is raised on every planning permission granted in the Haute-Savoie.